Marco had a lot of problems today. The team was split up, they were all out matched, and Steven had entered pacifist mode. Now came, what Marco thought, was the worst part of the day. "Why is the cockpit so small!?" He shouted.
"I have a small form, I automatically begin creating mobile vessels geared towards forming around that simple fact." Peridot assessed bluntly. "My initial thought would be that the other gems would shapeshift into smaller forms while the organics enter Kelly's hair."
"Well we don't have the option now, so it's now or never." Steven pushed his way inside. "Very …. Cramped …" He muttered as they all tired to push their way in.
"Again, I made this for a max of two normal sized figures to enter in." Peridot muttered as she activated the drill. "Hold on to your hind quarters, we're diving right in!" The drill stood on four thin mechanical legs before burrowing into the ground. "For the record, I only feel comfortable going this far because you're carrying the Mewman 'wand'.'In any other case, I wouldn't bother to try."
"So glad that you've come to love the earth so much that you'd risk everything to save it." Marco responded sarcastically.
"Don't give me that, you know I have a point!" The green gem yelled. "The idea of wanting to attempt to communicate with such a monstrosity is ludicrous at best!"
"Everyone thought the same about you when it came to you changing your mind." Steven grumbled.
"The difference is I HAVE a mind to communicate with. And even if you can 'talk it down' there's nothing else you can do, the Cluster will form regardless of its own free will. All Gems do if they're exposed and have enough internal energy."
"Guys, how about we save this argument until we actually get to the cluster?" Marco saw both sides of the argument, but asking to pick a side was a loaded question too big for anyone to answer at any time.
"Fine then." Peridot grumbled. "You're lucky I prepared an 'earth tune' for a long descent." The green gem pressed a switch … as elevator music played.
"Huh…it's actually pretty catchy." Steven muttered, tapping his fingers to the beat. "Bow-chicka bow-wow."
"Yeah, I think this was a one hit wonder a couple months ago." Marco hummed. "Once a band breaks up though, this is the fate of their music."
"They become meant for long descents?"
"No, it's changed to a format for long boring waits."
"Oh … that's fair." Peridot nodded. "... So while we have time, I have a question of my own. What is the limit of magic?"
"Depends on the user. Each queen of Mewni was able to use it differently to different results." Steven explained.
"How would technology adapt to the capability of its user … how would it even be forged like that?" Peridot muttered. "Why entrust it to someone who can't unlock its full potential?"
"Okay, one I have been able to use the wand before just fine, and two, that's part of living. Each person brings out their own full potential." Steven responded. "And what do you mean 'technology'?"
"Well, that's what magic is." Peridot explained. "Highly advanced technology that can perform marvelous feats."
"No, Magic is something that lets you defy the laws of physics." Marco explained.
Peridot stared at Marco before laughing , actually banging her head against the wall of the drill. "Oh, oh that is a good one."
"…You do realize Star can make rainbows go on fire…she sets WATER on fire…in mid air." Steven pointed out.
"Obviously a petroleum based substitute with a beam of light fractured inside of it to replicate it's natural H2O based counterpart."
"What about the time we were able to spy on you from a cave when we had no idea where you were?" Marco asked.
"Obviously a planetary scanner based on my facial features."
"Star froze time for over three days once." Steven added in.
Peridot raised her finger, pausing. "... I'll get back to you on that one." The gem shook her head. "So when, and I do me WHEN we have no choice but to destroy the cluster, will you be able to do it?"
"I can do a few spells … how much longer till we get there anyway?"
"By my estimation…two and a half hours…barring any interruptions." This was going to be … a while. "Unfortunately I declined to add any games."
"Oh, we can just sing." Steven said, before coughing. "A million stalks of corn on the wall, A million stalks of corn. You take one down, pass it around…"
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"... Fifteen stalks of corn on the wall…" Apparently singing could also be used as a form of torture as Peridot found out, as Steven's latest songs just seemed to keep going and going without end!
Peridot loved mathematical equations as much as the next Engineer, but this was just … overkill! What was worse was Marco succumbing to the syndrome known as 'Stockholm', and joining in, likely brainwashed by how dull the repetitive lyrics made his softer organic brain.
"One stalk of corn on the wall, one stalk of corn, you take one down, pass it around, that's all the stalks of corn on the wall!" Was this it … was it the end? Was the nightmare over? "A million stalks of cor-"
Peridot slammed her hand across the console. "Oh would you look at that, we're at the mantle! Let's focus on that and never sing that song again, ever."
"Fine, but if the trip back takes just as long, you only have yourself to blame." Steven said as they looked at the molten sight before them. "That's a lot of lava."
"That's not lava, it's magma." Marco correctly pointed out. "It's only lava when it reaches the surface."
"Oh, a vein of Peridotite." She pointed at the ore. "Wow, the nostalgia …" Peridot watched the molten substance with wonder.
"Do you remember it?" Marco asked. "Before … being born?"
"Not..not really. There really wasn't anything to remember…just a sense of coolness before coming into existence." Peridot gazed on. "Then poof, I was there, coming out of the hole in the ground, being taught the basics of what I was expected to do."
"So they really just put you in one place when you pop out, forever?" Steven asked.
"Essentially, yes. Pebbles are used for minor comforts such as room modification, Agates are used for scaring soldiers into line, and so on and so forth."
"So that's why that's an insult." Marco muttered.
"... What about Rose Quartz?" Steven asked. "What was her kind used for?"
"Their kind would have been used as defensive soldiers … until Rose started a rebellion and ruined everything." Peridot explained. A cough from both organics made her realize that might have come off as insensitive. "Oh, I mean, it totally worked out for our anarchy based rebellion. It's just, every Rose Quartz now has been contained and stored away."
"Well that seems like overkill." Steven muttered.
"Tell me about it." Peridot agreed. "One bad flaw ruins the whole good bun-" There was a loud beeping. "Radar, something's approaching."
"We're almost a thousand miles underground, what could be coming at us?" Marco asked, soon answered with a giant hand grabbing at the glass.
"The gem mutants! I thought Garnet got rid of all of them!" Steven shouted.
"Must be a couple prototypes that fell through the earth upon emerging. No matter, I came prepared for such an occasion." Peridot brought out a 'game controller' and handed it to Marco. "You blast, I drill."
"Finally, a weapon!" Marco laughed. "Eat it monsters, this is for all the times I couldn't punch you!!"
"And you call us out on our problems." Steven deadpanned.
"Hey, I spent sixteen years hoping for another fight against a gem, I'm going to take what I can get!" Perfectly understandable reasoning.
"Isn't there anything we can do for them?" Steven naively asked.
"Sure, if you want to open the door and let in a gallon of two thousand degree magma in here, open a window and chat it out with them." Peridot sarcastically answered. "Just be glad the layer of this part of the earth is too thick for them to navigate out of, so they won't hurt anyone else."
"I know it's hard Steven, essentially just leaving a mangled corpse floating around a bunch of magma, but there's just some things out of our reach." Marco sighed as he blasted another mutant.
"I know… I just wish they weren't." Steven held his head down as the drill began hitting into something more dense than the peridotite around them.
"We're arrived, organics! Brace for impact!" They arrived, seeing the cluster … the giant mass of shards, glowing brightly. It was too late, they were forming. This planet was doomed..
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Form. Form. Form. Form. Form. Form. Want to. Need to. Have to.
"It's receding, there's still time!" Funny Voice. Time For? Forming. Form. Form.
"Wait, I still want to.."
"If we give it another second, it's going to blow up the planet!" Planet? Thing. In Path.
"Fine, do what you want, I'm still going to talk!" Form. Form. Form. Form. "Concentrate … concentrate … I'm in!"
… New one? New voice. Suffering like us. Must Form.
"No, no, I'm not suffering, I'm Steven." Steven? Name? So different. "What's your name?"
Ame- Jaspe- Perid- Sapphi- Rub- Bismu-Aga- Nepheri - Emera- carn- obsidia-…"
"Okay, that's a lot of names!" Fear? Stress. "So I came here to ask … what do you want to do?" FORM! FORM! FORM! FORM! FORM!
"Okay, I get that, but it comes with a lot of problems… is there a reason why you want to form so badly?" Lonely … Missing … Lonely … Finding … Lonely …
"What are you talking about, you're not lonely… there's lots of people here!" Confusion. People? Only pieces.
"But you're talking to me with so many voices … why don't the voices talk with each other?" Each other? You're here? Sound pretty. Interests? Rock Gazing. " See, you're your own community, you're never lonely!"
Thank you. Companion. … FORM! Can't stop! It won't stop! Going to form! Sorry!
"No, we can stop it! I can buble you.. and you…and…you…and…oh boy, I'm going to need a really big bubble…"
Bubble? Bubble. Bubble!
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Steven gasped, his head pounding in agony. "Oh, why does it feel like I drank something out of dad's cabinet!?"
"Because you've been passed out for the last seven minutes!" Marco yelled out. "The Cluster's been going in and out of forming, and we're basically sitting ducks!
"The drill isn't even scratching it!" Peridot shouted. "We're all going to die! Marco, I'm sorry I failed you and the billions of other lifeforms I care significantly less about!" Gee, he was feeling the love there.
"No, I talked to the cluster, it doesn't want to form, it just wants to talk to itself and not be lonely!" Steven explained, grasping onto the ground. "If I can bubble it, everything should be fine."
"Bubble THAT!?" Peridot shouted. "Even if it was feasible to do, we don't have the time, we have maybe a minute max!"
"Look, Star had me keep my dimension scissors in case of an emergency." Marco admitted. "If we hurry, we can grab as many of our friends and family as we can and escape to Mewni…"
"No! I'm not going to just give up on an entire planet! That's not who my mom's are, and that's not who I am either!"
"What the … since when could you remote bubble!?" Since never, what was she on about?
"What are you…the cluster!" He saw multiple bubbles form across the surface. "They're bubbling each other!"
"I don't think it's going to stick though!" Marco pointed to a couple that were popping. "I don't think they're strong enough to do it on their own!"
"They're not on their own…they have each other…and they have me!" He grabbed the wand. "And I have this!" Holding it high in the air, a quick flash of light formed around it, changing the wand's shape into a more thin form. It was a red-pink salmon color decorated with stars and a moon across it with a half cracked Star crystal at the bottom. It looked like a microphone that someone would use for karaoke.
"What are you going to do with that vocal modulator!? Talk it to destruction!?"
"No, I'm going to talk it to peace!" Steven shouted, a glow forming around his body. "Come on guys, we all have each other! Bubble on three!" He shouted. "One …" Focus on it … focus on the energy in you and the wand. "Two …" Let it build, grow and grow, flow into the tip of the speaker as it condenses into a flower. "THREE!" And pray it's not green.
A wave of pink petals covered the cluster, a feeling of a warm blanket following it as it encased the entire multi-fusion, before a small flash dissipated the petals, revealing a rainbow colored bubble that was as gleaming as it was pretty.
"You did it…dude…you stopped the world from blowing up!" Marco moved over in a Star like manner and hugged him. "We're not going to die! We're going to live! I didn't think that was going to work for a second, and I'm glad I was wrong!"
"We did the impossible …" Peridot muttered. "I have to reevaluate the power of anarchy."
"That's not anarchy, that's just the magic of friendship…and actual magic itself." Steven smirked, leaning against the control panel and closing his eyes. "That took a lot out of me..I don't know how Star uses this all the time."
"Her diet is ninety five percent sugar." Right, right, he almost forgot … pretty lights.
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Lapis groaned as she … woke up? That was a strange feeling, just how deep did Malachite push her and Jasper. Last she remembered were the feelings of dominance and misery that she half hated and half liked…and she didn't know which part she wished she could ignore more.
She looked around for Jasper … and found nothing. The panic woke her up as she fell into a corner. Lapis gripped her head tightly, panic coursing through her veins. They were defused, Jasper was gone. The Crystal Gems, they took Malachite down. They imprisoned her again !
She had to get out, she had to fly away, she had to… "ugh…why is everything pounding on my head?" A familiar voice stopped her in her place.
"I don't know dude, I feel like I'm drinking out of dad's special cabinet." Another vaguely familiar but not as much voice said out loud.
"Quartz?" She asked hesitantly, turning to see the familiar warm voice.
"Lapis…Lapis! You're here! You're not Malachite anymore!" Quartz rushed over to her and wrapped her in a nice hug.
"I know … Jasper is free …" They would be looking for him.
"It doesn't matter. You deserve to be happy!" The boy was so sacrificial and caring … she really needed to murder space unicorn. "Star, you did it! You saved her!"
"Yeah, and seeing as how no one else is dead, you stopped the Cluster!" Star shouted, getting in on the hug and squeezing tight. "We're getting pretty good at this whole saving the world biz."
"Guys, are you…They're awake!" The bushy haired organic peaked into the room before shouting, before her and the red hooded ones rushed in…followed by those crystal gems.
"YOU!" Lapis jumped back, holding onto Quartz.
"Hey now, it's fine!" The boy tried to wave off. "Nobody is going to hurt us …"
"So the Lazuli woke up." Lapis turned her glare … Peridot was standing there.
"You're dead." She summoned all the water she could in the area, which unfortunately wasn't much, and held the insufferable hellspawn by the hands. "You have any idea how miserable you've made my frankly hell of a life, you damned pebble of a Clod!?"
"What is with everyone and their terrible langu-" The Peridot screamed as she started throwing spears of water at the little bugger. "Stop trying to poof me!"
"Stop dodging!"
"Hey, hold up for a second, she's good now.." She turned her icy glare at the red hooded human and hovered a spear over his face.
"I don't trust anyone's word except Quartz's." She turned to the hybrid in question. "Is she 'good'?" As if that term existed for gems at all.
"She worked with us to stop the Cluster from blowing up the earth, she's goo …" Quartz stopped talking. "Are you okay? You've got fins on your hands."
Lapis blinked, looking down at her strange, fish-like hands. Flaw. "It just happened … when we were together. Is my gem cracked again?" She asked.
"No, it still looks intact." Star said.
"Then it should be fine." She wasn't a homeworlder anymore, the last thing she cared about was her appearance. "I'm no one's prisoner, so I'm going to do what I want now….and I'm going to stick by Quartz." She sent a look to the rebels, daring them to say anything about it.
"Actually … I'm going by Steven now." Lapis turned to him with a questioning gaze. "Met my dad, saw a video of my mom … fused with a girl …" Yeah, that would throw a boy into an identity crisis … oh yeah.
"Did you ever find the horrible villain that sold you out to Homeworld?" She asked. "The one that gave Peridot the messa-"
"Space unicorn, soaring through the stars. Delivering the rainbows all around the world." That DAMNED message played out loud, and it was coming from the red hooded one.
"…So is he a 'good' bad guy now, or am I free to squish him into paste?" She asked Qu-Steven, already ready to rain down murder on the bastard.
"It was just a miscommunication, let's put down the violent weapons and-Marco, you're not helping your case by running!"
"No, but I feel a hell of a lot safer!" It was a blast seeing him scream in fear…maybe she had a problem with that.
"This is going to take some getting used to, isn't it?" Kelly asked.
"Eh, not the first time I've delt with violent and murderous intentions, so no biggie." Qu-Steven shrugged.
"Oh …" Lapis nodded. "So did you finally … how did that one gem put it … 'bang' Kelly?"
"What!? We never..I didn't..I mean…!" The boy began trying red, before Kelly walked up to him with a smile and planted her lips on his face. "Ah….what was…?"
"That was for saving the planet…this is for being here." She grabbed his face and pressed her lips on his own.
"Aww, little bro's first girlfriend." Star giggled. "Full disclosure, if she tries something funny, you are free to impale her." She whispered to Lapis. Glad to see someone else has Qua-Steven's best interests at heart.